Long Island’s Hidden Past: Richter's Orchard and Cider Mill

At one time, Long Island's North Shore was covered in apple orchards and each town had their own cider mills.
A century later, Richter's Orchard and Cider Mill in Northport is still the same.
The orchard was started in 1900 by F.W. Richter.
People who visit the orchard say it is a piece of Long Island that hasn't changed over time.
There is an old barn on site with tools, baskets and buckets from a century before that hang over bags of freshly picked shiny red and green apples.
Lou and Andy Amsler grew up on the 49-acre orchard. Their father, Lou, first began working on the farm in the 1930s.
In 1946, Lou bought the orchard and cider mill for his wife and three sons.
"We all worked towards the farm and for the good of the farm. We all has chores," says Lou.
The rolling hills of the North Shore have created the perfect recipe for growing apples and 117 years later, Richter's Orchard and Cider Mill has become a Long Island tradition.
The Amsler brothers say they have third and fourth generation customers that have grown up loving the apples and cider and are now bringing their children to the orchard.
At one time, there were cider mill pressing apples in every Long Island town, but now Richter's is among just a few still doing it the old fashioned way.